John Bradstreet's father, Edward Bradstreet, of Irish descent, was, it would appear, with the British forces when they attacked and took Port Royal in 1710. Edward stayed on at Annapolis Royal, as Port Royal was to be renamed, where the British maintained a holding garrison. The young British officer was to meet and marry a French girl by the name of, d'Agathe de St Etienne de la Tour. From this union came two sons: Simon, born in 1713; and John, born in 1714. His father was not to live long after that, having died "after a lingering sickness," in 1718.1

John Bradstreet was to play a significant role in the The Taking of Louisbourg in 1745. His greater part was likely to be that which he played in the planning stage. He was at Boston during the winter season of 1744/45 and because of his intimate knowledge of Fortress Louisbourg he was to give both Shirley and Pepperrell invaluable information. He was, of course, that year, to be with the attacking New Englanders. It was before the walls at Louisbourg that John Bradstreet was to first make his reputation. His biographer, Wm. G. Godfrey, wrote:

Bradstreet, however, was not with Amherst in the assault on Louisbourg in 1758. Instead, he was with General James Abercromy who had taken over from his former boss, Lord Loudoun; but Abercromy proved to be just as incompetent as Loudoun. Bradstreet performed well, for example he "took up the slack left by the death of Howe";9 and gave excellent advise to Abercromy which was not accepted. Ticonderoga, as historians know, for the British, was an unmitigated disaster.10

After the retreat of the British, in August of 1758, Bradstreet went with a detachment under his command to Lake Ontario; it was there that he was to achieve an outstanding success, one for which he is most remembered. With an army of 3,100 men in 123 bateaux and 95 whaleboats he went across Lake Ontario and attacked Fort Frontenac (Kingston) long a French stronghold, and, succeeded in taking it away from the French.

For the years 1759 and 1760, while his family lived at Boston, Bradstreet was to be mostly headquartered in Albany.11 There he carried out the job of supplying Amherst's army as it advanced on Montreal.12 After The Seven Years War Bradstreet continued in his career as a British army officer; there was much to be done. The French had been effectively canceled out in America; but there was another great race of men which took issue with British claims. As the English pushed to Detroit and the eastern edges of the Mississippi the tribes found a leader, Pontiac.13 Bradstreet was much involved in the campaign against Pontiac and the resulting intrigues between the white Indian agents, and in particular, Sir William Johnson, with whom, Bradstreet was in conflict.

Sick, and very much a broken man, his old friends in London, Jeffrey Amherst among them, finally convinced the authorities to give what John Bradstreet long deserved. At the age of 61, in 1771, he received his promotion to major general. In 1774, John Bradstreet died; his remains lie at Trinity Church, New York City.

[1] There is a biography on Bradstreet, John Bradstreet's Quest, by Wm. G. Godfrey (1941-) (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1982). Reference to Edward Bradstreet's death is made at p. 3.

[2] We see from Godfrey's biography, at pp. 4-5, that Agathe, as a la Tour, received 2,000 lb. settlement for a claim that she had made for "seigneurial rights." With it, apparently, she bought two commissions for her two sons and then went off to retire in Kilkenny, Ireland to be near the relatives of her first husband. John, and his brother Simon, as young officers, were much in competition with one another, and, there is evidence that there was not much love between them. Simon, however, died early: in December of 1745 the ship Rousby came to grief off the coast of Cape Breton and among those who drowned was Simon Bradstreet.

[3] An interesting side note, is, that, when Bradstreet was released and transported to Boston a condition was imposed that he was not to bear arms against the French for a period of time -- a common condition for the release of prisoners back in those days. Being William Pepperrell's chief officer in his regiment, "The First Massachusetts," Bradstreet was one of the first officers to make the grand entry into Louisbourg after its capitulation in 1745. His presence was to anger the French considerably.

[7] Loudoun had a pretty impressive force, there, at Halifax. There were upwards to 9,400 soldiers organized in "six battalions." They floated up the coast from New York in over 100 vessels, including: 87 transports, 2 hospital ships, a horseship, 12 victualers, and 3 packets. Not long after, Vice-admiral Holburne, after an eight week transoceanic voyage which had originated in Cork, Ireland, arrived at Halifax with an additional 5,200 regulars aboard 45 transports, escorted by 15 men-of war. All of this great expense and trouble was for naught: though all set to make his move from Halifax with this great force, Lord Loudoun changed his mind, disassembled his forces and retired to New York -- an action for which Loudoun was very much criticized.

[8] Our colonial soldier, who was long overdue for a promotion, was to be awarded, presumably because of a good word from Pitt: "On December 27, 1757, a message from the war office to Pitt's secretaries confirmed a number of Promotions including that of 'Captain John Bradstreet ... to be a deputy Quarter Master General of His Majesty's Forces in North America and to take the Rank of lieutenant Colonel of Foot.'" (See Godfrey's biography, op. cit., p. 111.)

[9] Godfrey, (op. cit., p. 120.) in quoting John Shy's work, James Abercromby And The Campaign of 1758.

[10] The "loss of 1610 Regulars 334 Provincials killed and wounded ..." (Godfrey, op. cit., p. 120.) There was panic at Abercromby's head quarters, insufficient knowledge of the enemy's position, an unsupported frontal assault (Abercromy left his cannon in the rear), a hasty abandonment of the attack; and this in light of the fact that Abercromby had an army of 14,000 versus Montcalm's 3,000. (Ibid.)

[11] John Bradstreet married the widow of his cousin, who, was also named John Bradstreet -- which, of course, causes confusion to amateur genealogists. The widow's maiden name was Mary Aldridge. Mary was to have two children by the first John Bradstreet: Samuel and Elizabeth. And by the second John Bradstreet (our hero), two daughters: Agatha and Martha. (See Godfrey's biography, at p. 10.) "... in 1764 or 1765, his wife Mary had departed from Boston with daughters Agatha and Martha and stepdaughter Elizabeth, bound first for Ireland and then for England. ... never to return." Godfrey continues, (ibid., pp. 251-2) to point out that by this time Bradstreet, at Albany, had taken up with another woman, Catherine Schuyler, the wife of his close friend.

[12] There was a train of men and boats continually on the move from up the Hudson to Albany and then from there two lines were fed; one going up the Mohawk valley to Oswego, the other over to the waiting boats on Lake George and on Lake Champlain. It was Bradstreet who oversaw the work at Albany: "bateaux building, procuring bateau-men, carpenters, 'wagoners & ox team drivers,' arranging horses, carries and oxen ..."